General Principles.

1. Advertisements should not contain statements or visual presentations offensive to the standards of decency prevailing among those who are likely to be exposed to them.

2. Advertisements should not be so framed as to abuse the trust of the consumer or exploit his lack of experience or knowledge.

3. Advertisements should not without justifiable reason play on fear.

4. Advertisements should not contain anything which might lead or lend support to acts of violence, nor should they appear to condone such acts.

5. All descriptions, claims and comparisons which relate to matters of objectively ascertainable fact should be capable of substantiation, and advertisers and advertising agencies are required to hold such substantiation ready for production without delay to the CAP Committee of the Advertising Standard Authority.

6. Advertisements should not contain any statements or visual presentation which, directly or by implication, omission, ambiguity, or exaggerated claim, is likely to mislead the consumer about the product advertised, the advertiser, or about any other product or advertiser.

7. Advertisements should not misuse research results or quotations from technical and scientific literature.

8. Consumers should not be led to overestimate the value of goods whether by exaggeration or through unrealistic comparisons with other goods or other prices.

9. All comparative advertisements should respect the principles of fair competition and should be so designed that there is no likelihood of the consumer being misled as a result of the comparison, either about the product advertised or that with which it is compared.

10. Advertisements should not unfairly attack or discredit other products, advertisers or advertisements directly or by implication.

11. Advertisements should be clearly distinguishable as such whatever their form and whatever the medium used. When an advertisement appears in a medium which contains news, editorial or programme matter it should be so designed, produced and presented that it will be readily recognized as an advertisement.

12. Advertisements should not, without justifiable reason, show or refer to dangerous practices or manifest a disregard for safety. Special care should be taken in advertisements directed towards or depicting children or young people.

13. Advertisements addressed to children or young people or likely to be seen by them, should not contain anything whether in illustration or otherwise, which might result in harming them physically, mentally or morally, or which exploits their credulity, their lack of experience, or their natural sense of loyalty.

VOCABULARY FOCUS

Ex. 1. Study the meaning of the following words, and then use them to fill in the gaps:

1. Advertising means making a product or service known to the public (through the press, television, cinema, etc.) in order to sell it

1.1 Advertising is uncountable (an advertising' is incorrect). The countable noun is advertisement: I've placed an advertisement in The Financial Times.

2. Publicity involves attracting the public's attention but not necessary to sell anything specific. The sponsorship of a boat in the America's Cup gave them a lot of publicity. The scandal of the President's love affair attracted a vast amount of publicity.

3. Marketing involves all the activities intended to stimulate demand for products and services: e.g. advertising, sales promotion, branding, consumer tests, market surveys and so on. 3.1 The marketing mix refers to the combination of promotion, product, price and place needed to ensure a product's success in the market place.

4. Public relations has been defined as the 'deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its public'. (Institute of Public Relations). Although it is part of marketing and promotion PR has no direct involvement in selling. Its function is to build up a good image and reputation, to show that the firm is social-y aware and has the public interest at heart.

Which of these words is for: advertising, marketing or public relations

a. We are a dynamic young company selling capital equipment to the catering industry. We wish to appoint an energetic and innovative ___ professional to initiate, develop and test out ideas for widening our customer base. The work also involves commissioning and interpreting research together with providing sales support services.

b. We are an independent ___ agency seeking a senior account executive to control a number of consumer and business-to-business accounts. The ideal candidate should have at least three to four years' experience, good communication skills and a sound understanding of the media.

c. As Press and _____ officer you’ll be responsible for

• improving our overall corporate image

• developing and maintaining media contacts

• organizing and overseeing exhibitions and events

You are likely to be in your mid-30s and have experience in copywriting, media liaison and conference organization. You are, above all, an excellent communicator and ......

Ex. 2.Express in one word.

1. Persuading or being persuaded; power of persuading; conviction; belief.

2. Opinion, like or dislike, formed before one has adequate knowledge or experience.

3. State of being ambiguous; expression, etc. that can have more than one meaning.

4. Emotional condition in which there is fear and uncertainty about the future.

5. The ability to be believed in.

6. Stretch (a description) beyond the truth; make sth. seem larger, better, worse, etc. than it really is.

7. What is implied; sth. hinted at or suggested, but not expressed.

8. True and faithful.

9. Make people stop respecting or trusting someone or something.

10. Judge something to be better than it really is.

11. Acceptable behaviour, especially moral and sexual behaviour.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Words for reference: ambiguity, anxiety, decency, credibility, implication, prejudice, persuasion, loyal, overestimate, exaggerate, discredit.

Ex. 3.Choose the words with similar meaning from the two lists.

3) Argument, essence, evaluation, ambiguity, judgement, performance, violence, offensive, honest, to deceive, to depict, to originate.

4) Implication, truthful, to lie, to portray, to cause, controversy, the point, estimation, opinion, fulfilment, force, insulting.

Ex. 4. What are the opposites?

Disappearance, regard, disloyalty, incompatible, indecent, indistinguishable, honesty, to credit, to lead, to use, unfairly.

Ex. 5. Using a dictionary add as many words as possible into the table.

Ex. 6.Form all possible word combinations using the words of the both columns and translate them into Russian. Make sentences about advertising using these word combinations.

Ex. 7.Complete the sentences with the words from the box below.

1. The ... of advertising is persuasion.

2. The consumer wants to be protected from ... and misinformed by advertisements.

3. Most people have little knowledge of the actual ... of what they buy.

4. Advertisements should not play on ....

5. Advertisements should not contain acts of ....

6. Advertisements should not ... the consumer about the product.

7. Special care should be taken in advertisements ... children or young people.

8. Advertisements should not ... other products.

Ex. 8.Fill in the gaps with on, towards, from, to, in, at, for, off or with.

1. We often rely ... advertisements.

2. His appeal is rarely directed ... reason alone.

3. It protects the consumer ... being deceived and misinformed by advertisements.

4. Advertisements should not contain statements offensive ... the standards of decency.

5. They should not play ... fear.

6. Advertisements addressed to children should not contain anything which might result... harming them.

7. Advertising is aimed ... conveying information to potential customers and clients.

8. It is illegal... advertisers to make untrue statements about their goods.

9. As a demand ... a product sags, it can be stimulated.

10. Without the possibility of advertising, workforces would have to be laid ... when sales fell.

11. How could trading be carried ... without such devices?

12. Commercial television is able to provide us ... free programmes.

13. We also have advertisers to thank ... the free colour supplements.

14. We are looking ... a particular company now.

Ex. 9. Make up your own text using the following words and word combinations.

Advertising, persuasion, consumer discrimination, evaluation and selection of items, to make judgements of quality, a valid form of propaganda, emotional responses, fair competition, lack of experience, to discredit, to deceive, to misinform.

COMPREHENSION

Ex. 1. Complete the sentences using information from the text.

1. Most people are unable to make first-hand judgements of ...

2. The advertiser appeals to reason and ....

3. The British Code of Advertising Practice protects the consumer from ....

4. Advertisements should not without justifiable reason play on ....

5. Advertisements should not contain anything that is likely to mislead the consumer about....

6. Consumers should not be led to overestimate ....

7. Advertisements should be readily recognized as ....

8. Advertisements should not manifest disregard for ....

9. Advertisements addressed to children or young people should not contain anything which might result in ....

Ex. 2. Say if the statements are true or false.

1. The evaluation and selection of manufactured items is an inescapable part of life in today's society.

2. People seldom rely on advertisements, as it’s very easy for them to make first-hand judgements of quality.

3. In order to assist consumer’s discrimination, advertisers rarely appeal to people’s emotions. They try to use well-reasoned arguments.

4. The British Code of Advertising Practice exists to persuade people to buy as many goods and services as possible.

5. Most advertisements play on experience.

6. There are no special rules on advertisements addressed to children.

7. Advertisements should use research results and quotations from technical and scientific literature.

8. Advertisements should not discredit other products.

9. Advertisements should be easily recognised.

10. Sometimes advertisements can offend the standards of decency.

Ex. 3. Speak about the principles on

• advertisements addressed to children or young people;

• advertisements depicting children;

• prohibition to mislead the consumer about the product advertised;

• prohibition to contain something offensive to the standards of decency;

• respect for the principles of fair competition.

Ex. 4. A) Which of the following claims do you agree with?

1. Advertising is essential for business, especially for launching new consumer products.

2. A large reduction of advertising would decrease sales.

3. Advertising often persuades people to buy things they don't need.

4. Advertising often persuades people to buy things they don't want.

5. Advertising lowers the public's taste.

6. Advertising raises prices.

7. Advertising does not present a true picture of products.

8. Advertising has a bad influence on children.

B) In a well-known survey, the Harvard Business Review asked 2,700 senior business managers whether they agreed with these statements. The survey produced some unexpected results. Which of the following percentages do you think go with which of the statements above?

41% 49% 51% 57% 60% 72% 85% 90%

 

After matching up these figures and statements, look at the true figures.

After reading the opinions expressed in the Harvard Business Review survey, do you want to revise the opinions you expressed above?

Ex. 5. Look at the cartoon and read the conversation between the two men. What is the humour or message of the cartoon? What features of advertising does it reflect?

	The first man: – Your sheep look so white and fresh, Ben! How do you do it?
The second man: – I use this, Stan! It’s new Fab-Fleece! Keeps your sheep looking whiter, brighter, longer!
Now at your local feed store

 

Ex. 6. Speak about the essence of advertising and its general principles using the information obtained from the text.

T E X T 2

How companies advertise?

Read the text below and do the tasks that follow.

Advertising informs consumers about the existence andbenefitsofproducts and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them. The best form of advertising is probably word-of-mouth advertising, which occurs when people tell their friendsaboutthe benefits of products or services that they have purchased. Yet virtually no providers of goods or services rely on this alone, but use paid advertising instead. Indeed, many organizations also use institutional or prestige advertising, which is designed to build in their reputation rather than to sell particular products.

Although large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments, write their own advertisements, and buy media space themselves, they tend to usetheservices of large advertising agencies. These are likely to have more resources, and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising and advertising media than a single company. The most talented advertising people generally prefer to work for agencies rather then individual companies as this gives them the chance to work on a variety of advertising accounts (contracts to advertise products or services). It is also easierfora dissatisfied company to give its account to another agency than it would be to fireitsown advertising staff.

The client company generally gives the advertising agency an agreed budget; a statement of the objectives of the advertising campaign, known as a brief; and an overall advertising strategy concerning the message to be communicated to the target customers. The agency creates advertisements (the word is often abbreviated to adverts or ads), and develops a media plan specifying which media – newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema, posters, mail, etc. – will be used and in which proportions. (On television and radio, ads are often known as commercials.) Agencies often produce alternative ads or commercials that are pre-tested in newspapers, television stations, etc. in different parts of a country before a final choiceis made prior to a national campaign.

The agency's media planners have to decide what percentage of the target market they want to reach (how many people will be exposed to the ads) and the number of times they are likely to see them. Advertising people talk about frequency or ‘OTS’ (opportunities to see) and the threshold effect – the point at which advertising becomes effective. The choice of advertising media is generally strongly influenced by the comparative cost of reaching 1,000 members of the target audience, the cost per thousand (often abbreviated to CPM, using the Roman numeral for 1,000). The timing of advertising campaigns depends on factors such as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover (new buyers entering the market).

How much to spend on advertising is always problematic. Some companies use the comparative-parity method – they simply match their competitors’ spending, thereby avoiding advertising wars. Others set their ad budget at a certain percentage of current sales revenue. But both these methods disregard the fact that increased ad spending or counter-cyclical advertising can increase current sales. On the other hand, excessive advertising is counter-productive because after too many exposures people tendto stop noticing ads, or begin to find them irritating. And once the most promising prospective customers have been reached, there are diminishing returns, i.e. an ever-smaller increase in sales in relation to increased advertising spending.

 

VOCABULARY FOCUS

Ex. 1. In the text, find the terms that mean the following. Reproduce the contexts in which these words are used.

1. free advertising, when satisfied customers recommend products to their friends;

2. advertising that mentions a company’s name but not specific products;

3. companies that handle advertising for clients;

4. a contract with a company to produce its advertising;

5. the amount of money a company plans to spend in developing its advertising and buying media time or space;

6. the statement of objectives of an advertising campaign that a client works out with an advertising agency;

7. the advertising of a particular product or service during a particular period of time;

8. a defined set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy;

9. the people who choose where to advertise, in order to reach the right customers;

10. the fact that a certain amount of advertising is necessary to attract a prospective customer's attention;

11. choosing to spend the same amount on advertising as one's competitors;

12. advertising during periods or seasons when sales are normally relatively poor.

 

Ex. 2. Fill in the missing word(s) in each of the following sentences. Choose from the alternatives beneath each sentence. The first has been done for you.

1. Large companies tend to use the services of large advertising …agencies….

a) agencies b) companies c) campaigns

2. Providers of goods or services use ….. advertising to inform consumers about the existence and benefits of their products.

a) made b) paid c) free

3. The most talented advertising people generally prefer to work for agencies as this gives them the chance to work on a variety of advertising …….

a) accounts b) projects c) ideas

4. The ….. company generally gives the advertising agency an agreed budget.

a) customer b) hiring c) client

5. An overall advertising strategy concerns the message to be communicated to the ……. customers.

a) aimed b) potential c) target

6. Advertising people pay much attention to the threshold effect - the point at which advertising becomes …..

a) ineffective b) effective c) the most profitable

Ex. 3. In small groups, discuss what you understand by the terms media and medium. Think of as many different uses of these two terms as you can, and then write a “dictionary” definition for each. Discuss your definitions with the rest of the class.

Ex. 4. Now read the dictionary definitions of ‘media’ and ‘medium’ given below and answer the questions:

1. What differences and similarities are there between your definitions and the dictionary ones?

2. How would ‘media’ be defined in your culture in everyday context?

3. Would it include both senses of the definition of media?

4. In what meaning is this word used in the text?

media1 all the organizations, such as television, radio, and the newspapers, that provide information for the public, regarded as a group: The letter was leaked to the media by a White House official. [also + plural verb BrE ]: The media have launched a bitter attack on the Health Minister.

2 the plural of medium.

In English, a distinction is made between the first and the second use of the term media by the use of a definite article. People talk about the media when they are referring to newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, but media when they are using the word as the plural of ‘medium’.

medium1 way of communicating information and news to people, such as newspapers, television etc: Politicians prefer to use the medium of television.

2 a way or means of expressing your ideas or of communicating with people: the novel as a medium for satire / the visual media.

3 medium of instruction a language that is used for teaching: English is still the main medium of instruction in Nigeria.

4 medium of exchange money or other ways of paying for things.

5 technical a substance or material in which things grow or exist: acid medium.

6 technical a substance through which a force travels: Air is a medium for sound.

Ex. 5. A) Study the meaning of the prefix counter. Translate the sentences containing the words with this prefix in the text. Can you think of any other contexts for these words?

counter- prefix 1 the opposite of something: a counterproductive thing to do (=producing results opposite to what you wanted); 2 matching something: my counterpart in the American system (=someone who has the same job as mine); 3 done or given as a reaction to something, especially to oppose it: proposals and counter-proposals; 4 acting to prevent something: a counterinsurgency strategy (=to prevent insurgents).

B) Translate the sentences below into Russian. Explain the meaning of the words with counter.

Sending young offenders to prison can be counterproductive.

His fear of his father is counterbalanced by a genuine respect.

The government is imposing new countermeasures against terrorism.

I decided on a swift counterattack.

Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts.

COMPREHENSION

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the best kind of advertising?

2. Why do most companies use advertising agencies?

3. When a company hires an advertising agency, what are the roles of both parties?

4. What is a media plan?

5. What problems do the agency's media planners have to solve?

6. Whydoes advertising become ineffective after a certain point?

 

Ex. 2. Say if the statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. The best form of advertising is probably word-of-mouth advertising, that’s why most of providers of goods or services rely on this alone.

2. The most talented advertising people working for individual companies enjoy the opportunity to work on a variety of advertising accounts.

3. Institutional or prestige advertising is of great importance though designed to build in a company reputation rather than to sell particular products.

4. The client company generally gives the advertising agency an agreed budget and a brief while an overall advertising strategy is worked out by the agency.

5. These are market planners who are responsible for choosing advertising media.

6. Alternative ads or commercials are created to help to make a final choice of advertising media.

7. The choice of advertising media is generally strongly influenced by the comparative cost of reaching 1,000 members of the target audience

8. There are two main factors that the timing of advertising campaigns mostly depends on.

9. The comparative-parity method is rather popular when deciding how much to spend on advertising.

10. A good advertisement is always effective and productive.

 

Ex. 3. Think out the definitions for

- word-of-mouth advertising

- prestige advertising

- ad budget

- advertising wars

- counter-productive advertising

Ex. 4.Find the sentences giving the main point of the text. State the main idea of the text.

Ex. 5.Find key words and phrases which the best express the meaning of each paragraph.

Ex. 6.Scan the text again to answer the question: which of the following paragraphs most accurately summarizes the text, and why?

a) Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them. The best form of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising, but providers of goods tend to use the services of large advertising agencies. The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief, and an overall advertising strategy. The agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on factors such as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover. The comparative-parity method is rather popular when deciding how much to spend on advertising.

b) Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them. Although the best form of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising, virtually no providers of goods or services rely on this alone, but use paid advertising instead.

Large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments and write their own advertisements but they tend to usetheservices of large advertising agencies as these are likely to have more resources and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising.

The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief and an overall advertising strategy. The agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan.

The agency's media planners decide what percentage of the target market they want to reach and the number of times they are likely to see them. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on factors such as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover.

How much to spend on advertising is always problematic as once the most promising prospective customers have been reached, there are diminishing returns.

c) In order to inform consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and to persuade them to buy, companies use paid advertising and address large advertising agencies. These are likely to have more resources and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising and advertising media.

The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief and an overall strategy concerning the message to the target customers. In its turn the agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan specifying which media will be used and in which proportions.

The choice of advertising media is strongly influenced by the comparative cost of reaching 1,000 members of the target audience. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on purchasing frequency and buyer turnover.

How much to spend on advertising is always problematic. Companies must take into account that excessive advertising is counter-productive because, once the most promising prospective customers have been reached, there are diminishing returns.

 

Ex. 7.Speak about how companies advertise using the information from the text.